Introduction

The Western Australian Government Environmental Offsets Policy commits to the development of a public Environmental Offsets Register as part of the state government’s commitment to approvals reform.
The Environmental Offsets Register provides a central public record of all offset agreements in Western Australia, contributing to the broader objectives of transparency and accountability.
Environmental offsets are most often applied to proposals subject to environmental impact assessment and as a condition of permits for clearing of native vegetation under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 , but may be considered in relation to other legislation

On 1 July 2013, the former Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) separated into the Department of Environment Regulation and the Department of Parks and Wildlife. Any reference to DEC retained in this site pertains to historical or record-keeping accuracy.

Legislative responsibilities

The Department of Environment Regulation (DER) administers the clearing provisions under Part V Division 2 (Clearing of native vegetation) of the Environmental Protection Act. Clearing permits may be subject to offset conditions to “establish and maintain vegetation on land other than land cleared under the permit in order to offset the loss of the cleared vegetation, or make monetary contributions to a fund maintained for the purpose of establishing or maintaining vegetation”.